LCWA continuing to make progress on Lake Beauclair Dredging Project

The Lake County Water Authority is over halfway complete with the 1.5-million cubic yard Lake Beauclair Dredging Project. The project was designed to remove the organic nutrient-laden sediment from the western end of Lake Beauclair. The 255-acre delta has been accumulating in the lake as a result of discharges from the Apopka/Beauclair Canal. Discharges from the canal have historically carried heavy loads of organic material along with polluting nutrients. That source of pollutants has been greatly reduced since the construction of the Nutrient Reduction Facility (NuRF).

The dredging will be shut down on June 15th as required in LCWA's permits and will restart on September 1. This stoppage period is required to prevent any fish losses during the warmest months.

The Lake County Water Authority is seeing measurable improvements in lakes downstream of the Nutrient Reduction Facility (NuRF). Lake Beauclair, the first lake downstream of the NuRF, has reduced its total phosphorus levels by one-third. Since 2000, the lake has averaged 99 parts per billion for total phosphorus. After the construction of the NuRF, the lake is now averaging 66 parts per billion. The Secchi depth or transparency is also improving. Since 2000, the average Secchi in the lake was 1.08 feet. After construction of the NuRF, the Secchi is averaging 1.55 feet. The Lake County Water Authority is also monitoring significant improvements in the other lakes further downstream. Additional progress in lake water quality is expected with more water flow and further improvements within Lake Apopka.